Ornamentation of leather



Jan. 19 1926. 1,570,329

. M. E. BENDELTARI ORNAMENTATION OF LEATHER Filed August 10, 1925 5 gnuenioz Ma /fitzaendezan;

Patented Jan. 19, 1926.

MARY E. BENDELARI, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

- omurirmrrarron or LEATHER.

Application filed August 10, 1925. Serial No. 49,893.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, MARY E. BENneLAm,

' citizen of the United States, residing at Paris, Republic of France, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Ornamentation of Leather, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an ornamented leather article, such as a ladys shoe, and to the method of applying ornamentation as practiced thereon.

It has been recognized that an ornamental leather shoe or slipper, particularly of the type suitedfor ladies-'wear, would prove highly artistic and desirable, provided .the ornamentation of the leather could be effected in such manner as to be of a permanent as well as a truly artistic character. Certain methods 'have been proposed for such'purpose, such as coating paint in ornamental design to the leather, but, due to the very light weight, pliable and highly polished leather from which ladies shoes and slippers are generally made and the resulting distortion of the leather as it adapts itself to the foot of the wearer, the paint design chips and peels away from the leather surface. This chipping or scaling of the paint is due partly to the inabil-' ity of the paint to grip the glazed skin sur-v face of the leather and partly to the fact that the ordinar paint used, when in a fully dried con ition, does not attain a suflicient degree of hardness or rigidity to withstand the distortion of the leather, and will consequently crack and rupture.

.It is accordingly one of the main objects of my invention to provide a method of ornamenting leather for shoes and the like, adapted particularly for ladies, wear, by which a highly artistic and ornamental appearance may be imparted to the shoe.

A further object is to provide a method of the above described character in'which the ornamental designs applied. to the leather of the shoe or slipper are perma- A f rther o j t is to provide a' ea he'r shoe or slipper having applied thereto a hardened paint in design, which grips the leather of the shoe inintimate association and which is of sufiicient rigidity to withstand the strains and distortion to which the leather is subjected as the shoe is worn.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in the followi'ngspecification.

The invention accordingly comprises the method and article which are exemplified in the description. hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the following claims.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully comprehend the underlying features thereof, in order that they may embody the same by numerous modifications, drawings depicting a preferred form of the invention have been annexed as partof this disclosure, and. in such drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout all the views, of which .Fig. 1 is a perspective of a shoe or slipper having applied thereto an ornamental design in accordance with my invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are detail views showing various steps in the method of applying the ornamental design; and- Fig. 4 is a detailview in section showing the gripping relation of the applied design with the leather surface of the slipper.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. 1, the numeral 10 designates a shoe or slipper preferably of leather and of arbitrary shape, having applied thereto an ornamental design in accordance with -my invention. .Thedesign to be used is, of course, arbitrary and would depend upon'the style of the shoe or slipper, the taste and ability of the designer, and the pur ose for which the shoe or slipper is inten ed, and the design as shown is merely typical of any number of designs which m1 ht be emplo ed.

he intende design is preferably first marked or inscribed on the leather surface 11 of the shoe or sli per, as by encil, chalk, or the like, as in icated at 12, ig. 2.

The design is then traced or outlined on and thru the skin surface of the leather by suitable means, as by a burning or burnish ing. tool, usually an instrument such as an electric needle 13, with the result that an outline of the design is burnt into the leather in the form of a groove 14:, the sides and edges of which resultingly present a slightly roughened surface.

Referring to Figure 3, there is applied an enamel coating 15 within the confines of the outline 14 of the design burnt into the leather, preferably by hand, with a brush 16, although any other means of applying the enamel to the leather is comprehended within the scope of the invention.

The term enamel is used to designate the commercial enamel paint having a varnish component which when dry is exceedingly hard and presents a high gloss surface.

The enamel, when applied, adheres closely to the skin surface of the leather 11, and is coated thereon in such manner that the enamel overlaps the edges of the groove 14, as at 17 to a sufficient depth and degree to cause the enamel surface, when dry, to adhere to and firmly grip the leather 11 and be held in intimate association with the skin surface thereof.

It is to be understood that enamels of the same or different colors may be applied Within the limits of. a single space to be coated, and that likewise color arrangements may be worked out in enamel to harmonize with the color of other enamel surfaces or with the color of the leather of the shoe or slipper.

vWith relation to Figure 4, wherein in exaggerated section is shown the gripping relation of the enamel when applied to the leather surface, it will be understood that the enamel when dry is of a relatively hard and rigid substance. As hereinbefore described, the enamel overlaps or extends over the edges of the grooves 14, and forms, when dry and hardened, an anchoring surface with the leather along the line or edges of the coated design. Thus, the enamel is in intimate contact with the skin surface of the leather andwith the edges of the groove 14. This feature permits the body of the leather to be distorted and stretched as happens when the shoe is worn, while the skin portion of the leather which is gripped by the hardened rigid enamel can retain its substantially original shape within the confines of the grooves 14.

Referring to Figure 3, it will be noted that the leather may be burnt as at 14.", in a design apart from t e applied enamel, formingwhat might be termed an ornamentation auxiliary to the enamel ornamentation. This auxiliary ornamentation, produced by burning the leather, assists in lending an artistic appearance to the shoe and may be of a harmonizing color and figure. For instance, 1f the color of the leather shoe were blue, the burnished portion of the leather-would appear as 9. ye low or brown, and the color ofthe enamel surface would be designed to form a third harmonizing orccontrasting color. The burnt groove 14, which in effect forms an outline surrounding the enamel surface, likewise adds to the finished appcarance of the design.

The arbitrary design of the shoe or slipper shown in Fig. 1 includes a design as above described applied to the vamp portion, as at 20. A further ornamentation may be applied about the top of the slipper as at 21 which comprises the enamel surfaces 16 and burnt designs 14 and 14 The ornamentation may also be applied to the heel as designated by numeral 22. The slipper, as shown, merely exemplifies one of' the many forms of'ornamentation which may be applied, and the invention is, of course,'not limited to the design as shown.

Although the invention is particularly directed to and adapted for the ornamentation of leather shoes or slippers, it is, of course, equally adaptable for the ornamentation of any leather article, such as pocketbooks, leather covers, and, in fact, for any purpose where an ornamental coating is sought to be applied to a leather surface.

From the above it will be obvious that there is provided in the present invention a method of ornamenting a shoe or slipper of leather of the type adapted for ladies wear by which is affected a shoe of highly artistic appearance. The enamel applied to the leather forms a rigid coating in association with the skin surface of the leather and the grooves burnt into the leather, whereby chipping or scaling of the enamel design is prevented. Furthermore, the ornamentation, as provided for in the above, may be of a highly diversified character, each form of which adds greatly to the appearance and artistic character of the shoe.

In view of'the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained. As many changes could be made in carrying out the invention without de-' parting from the scope thereof it is intended that all matter contained in the. above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. The method of ornamenting a leather shoe or slipper which comprises outlining a design on and thru the skin surface of the leather and applying a coating of enamel paint to the surface of the leather which adheres thereto and overlaps into the design, whereby the enamel coating is anchored to the leather.

2. The method of ornamenting leather surfaces, which comprises burning a design in outline on the leather surface and applying an enamel coating substantially within the outline of the. design and causing the enamel to overlap into the burnt design outline.

3. The method of ornainentil'ig a leathersurface, which comprises burning a design in the leather surface, part of which forms a substantially enclosed area, and applying ing of a design through the skin surface ofthe leather, and applying an ornamental coating of enamel paint to the skin surface of the leather which adheres thereto and overlaps into the burnt design, whereby the enamel coating is anchored to the leather;

5. The method of ornamenting a leather shoe or slipper which comprises burning a design through the skin surface of the leather, part of which forms a substantially enclosed area of leather surface, applying to said enclosed area an ornamental coating of enamel paint which adheres to the skin surface of the leather, and causing the enamel coating to overlap into the depressions formed by burning the leather whereby the enamel coating is anchored along its edge portions to the leather.

6, An ornamental leather shoe or slipper having a design burntjthrough the skin surface of the leather and an enamel paint applied to the leatheradjacent said design, the

I enamel adapted to overlap the edges of said burnt design outline whereby the enamel is anchored to the leather along its edge por tions.

7. A leather shoe or'slippe'r having a design outlined in the leather surface, and

an enamel paint applied to the leather ad-' jacent said design, the enamel overlapping the design whereby the enamel is anchored along its edge portions.

8. An ornamental leather shoe 'or slipper having a design burnt through the skin surface of the leather, partof said design forming a substantially enclosed area, and an ornamental coating of enamel aint applied to the enclosed skin sur ace and adapted to adhere thereto, the enamel'coating adapted to extend over the edge of the burnt design whereby the enamel coating'is anchored about its boundaries.

Signed at New York, New York, this 25th day of J uly', 1925.

MARY E. BENDELARI. 

